I was down alone in the Moaney,
Nobody else was near,
When my name was goin’ a’callin’
Low an’ sof an’ clear.
None was I seein’ aroun’ me,
Never a face of clay;
An’ my name was goin’ a’callin’,
Jus’ at the close of day.
The childher it’s like were callin’,
Wantin’ you they’d be
For a twilight play in the haggart
Under the tramman tree.
None of the childher was near me,
Gone to their homes they were;
An’ my name was goin’ a’callin’
Over the Moaney there.
Daddy it’s like was callin’
Wantin’ your help awhile,
Dhrivin’ the sheep he would be
Over beyond the stile.
Daddy was gone to the mountain,
I saw him against the sky,
An’ my name was goin’ a’callin’
Like a whisper passin’ by.
There’s Them that’s sometimes callin’
Low in th’ everin’ hour,
An’ if you give Them answer
They have you in their power.
A voice when the night is fallin’,
A whisper on the air,
An’ seekin’ to draw you to them
Down in the Moaney there.
Mammy, the voice a’callin’,
Callin’ my name to me,
Was his that long is lying
Cold in the cruel sea.
You’ll lave Good-bye with my Daddy
An’ lay me on my bed —
Chile veen, chile veen, what ails thee
I answered it, she said.
childher = children
haggart = barn
tramman tree = elder tree
Them = the Little People
everin’ = evening
moaney = turbary/bog
chile = child
veen = dear/darling/sweet
(source: Manx Melodies by Josephine Kermode aka Cushag (1922); artwork by Evariste Carpentier titled ‘Playing Child’)
